Tuesday, February 3, 2009

The fat of the emu bird is used to treat wounds and bruises. (Photo by CmdrGravy)

Ladies and gentlemen, it's time to begin another hair growth battle. The old one between Korean red ginseng and tea tree oil is still running, but since I have no interesting results to post, I'm going ahead and starting a new one alongside it.

In this match I will be pitting emu oil against a product called Hair Again®. Whereas the former is simply a natural oil made from the fat of the emu bird, the latter is a more complex topical gel consisting of several ingredients that are said to help with hair growth. The fight between nature and science is on.

Emu oil is sometimes used to treat burns and wounds, and there is even some science (which I will get to in another post) to back this idea up. It's also claimed to be anti-inflammatory and sometimes sold as a hair growth product, even though there are no studies that suggest emu oil has anything to do with hair. This, of course, makes it ideal for a human experiment.

Hair Again®, on the other hand, claims to be "the most advanced hair growth topical gel in the world", a rather bold claim to say the least. The product contains the following ingredients: coenzyme Q10, glutathione, superoxide dismutase, beta glucan, beta carotene, retinol, vitamin D3, beta-sitosterol, quercetin, progesterone, and melatonin.

Admittedly, some of the ingredients look pretty good, and in my experience retinol really does grow hair in humans. This product is from the same company (Young Again) as the retinol cream I used, so it will be interesting to see whether this one has an effect too.

I will apply the topical gel on my left temple, which has already received a few months' worth of retinol before this. The right temple will get the emu oil treatment. And since emu oil is also sold as a skin care product, I'm going to apply it on the right side of the face as well just to see what happens.

I'll get to the scientific studies related to emu oil and the ingredients in the gel in later posts. Until then, let the battle begin.